FEW managers get the luxury of insisting that sometimes results don’t matter. Those who do tend not to find themselves in the post for any great length of time. In a development role, however, it is different and Scot Gemmill, coach of the Scotland under-21 side, won’t put massaging his own career statistics in front of the requirements of the nation.
To that end he has named 10 new players for the forthcoming friendly against Estonia at the Paisley 2021 Stadium, including Malaga’s Jack Harper and St Mirren duo Stevie Mallan and Lewis Morgan. With qualification for the 2019 European Championships starting in September – Scotland are in a group alongside England, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Latvia and Andorra – Gemmill feels this is the ideal time to take a look at what others can offer.
Having used only younger players towards the end of the previous campaign to help bed them in quicker, he has shown himself to be a coach not scared of taking a calculated risk for a long-term gain.
“I still believe that I have to be brave enough to [put development over results],” he said. “It’s not about me, it’s about the players and Scotland under-21s trying to develop as many players who will go onto play for the national team.
“Some people might look at that and question that but I honestly don’t think about the issue from a selfish point of view, I really don’t. Our qualifying campaign starts in September. This is the first time these players have played at their own age group. The last games we had at the end of 2016, I spoke about it then, and when you lose games you get criticised, I understand that. That’s the world we live in.
“But at the same time I would not be doing my job if I didn’t defend the players. They were playing against two teams who were on their way to the under-21 finals this summer, giving them a two-year advantage.
“We are all sensible enough to know how difficult those games are and I am really excited to see this team now playing at their own age level. Then we will get a better measure of how we are going to progress over the next few years.”
Harper is the name that will leap out, the Spanish-born striker having returned “home” to Malaga after an unsuccessful, short stint with Brighton. “I went to watch Jack play - he played very well –and when I spoke to him, he said all the right things,” added Gemmill. “He’s really keen to take his opportunity and I think if you spoke to all the players they would all recognise the importance of this level and this game and trying to take the opportunity to propel them to the full squad.
“This sort of game, playing for your country, is part of your development as a player. About half of them have had a chance already at this level and as a young player that’s all you can ask for.”
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